Filed Under Texas lumber industry

Southern Pine Lumber Company

By Chris Grant
Southern Pine Lumber Company
Southern Pine Lumber Company Workers at the Southern Pine Lumber Company pose outside the train depot in Diboll. Founded by Thomas Temple in the late 19th century, Southern Pines soon turned into one of the top producers of milled lumber in Texas. Source: The History Center at Diboll

Making use of a nearby railroad track, Thomas Temple founded the Southern Pine Lumber Company (SPLC), and with it Diboll, in 1894. Named after J.C. Diboll, who sold seven thousand acres of east Texas forest to Temple one year earlier, the town quickly grew to serve the SPLC mill.

By June of 1894, the mill was fully operational and churning out both pine and hardwood lumber on a daily basis. Soon enough, the Southern Pine mill was turning out 60,000 board feet of lumber per day and employed 600 men. Within ten years, a second mill opened as the Southern Pine operation continued to grow.

This growth spread to the town as well. Men and their families moved to Diboll to work at the mill. Southern Pines opened a large store to provide for the families and other businesses sprang up as well. These included a drug store, a post office, a grocery, a feed store and doctors' offices. In addition, Southern Pines Lumber Company built its headquarters in Diboll where the railroad station served passengers and also allowed cargo of milled wood produced in lumberyards to be quickly transported.

The Texas South-Eastern Railroad, started by Temple in 1900, served the Diboll station. The line eventually traveled 15 miles east from Diboll to connect with the St. Louis Southwestern Railway Company which continued on to Houston where the lumber could then be shipped anywhere in country or the world.

Unlike many other lumber mills in Angelina County that sprang up the Texas logging bonanza and then disappeared, the Southern Pine Lumber Company and the town of Diboll prospered and are still around today. Through a program of replanting, Southern Pine was able to continue cutting on the same land, in addition to acquiring more forest space. By 1964 it had 450,000 acres on which to cut. That was the same year Southern Pine changed its name to Temple Industries. In the 1970s, Time, Inc., purchased the company and changed its name to Temple-Inland. The town of Diboll has continued to prosper around the lumber mill and today is home to more than 5,000 people.

Images

Southern Pine Lumber Company
Southern Pine Lumber Company Workers at the Southern Pine Lumber Company pose outside the train depot in Diboll. Founded by Thomas Temple in the late 19th century, Southern Pines soon turned into one of the top producers of milled lumber in Texas. Source: The History Center at Diboll
Southern Pines Baseball Team
Southern Pines Baseball Team Recreation was an important part of life in East Texas lumber towns and baseball often played a key part. Most towns at the time had teams sponsored by the local mill that would play other town teams on the weekend. Southern Pines was no exception and fielded its own team pictured here. Source: The History Center at Diboll
Man Working Boiler
Man Working Boiler An integral part of any saw mill, the boilers, like these at the Southern Pine Lumber Company, powered the mill and kept the machinery and the men working. Source: The History Center at Diboll and Portal to Texas History, University of North Texas
Diboll Train Station
Diboll Train Station The railroad was key to the success of the Southern Pine Lumber Company. When Temple started his operation, he chose the site because of its proximity to the railroad track. Soon a station was built in Diboll so lumber products being produced by the mill could be shipped out and sold in Houston and the rest of the country. Source: LufTex.com
Loading the Lumber
Loading the Lumber The Southern Pine Lumber Company mill in Diboll produced 60,000 feet of lumber a day by the turn of the 20th century and all that lumber needed to reach potential customers. Men loaded lumber onto trains as railroads provided the fastest, and easiest, way to get it out of the piney woods. Source: The History Center at Diboll and Portal to Texas History, University of North Texas
Southern Pine Lumber Company Offices
Southern Pine Lumber Company Offices The Southern Pine Lumber Company established its main offices at its Diboll facility. In addition to running the local mill, the office managed all company operations including logging camps and other mills throughout East Texas. Source: The History Center at Diboll and Portal to Texas History, University of North Texas
Pine Mill No. 1
Pine Mill No. 1 The first mill built for the Southern Pine Lumber Company in Diboll was the beginning of what turned into a huge operation that continues to this day. Pictured in the foreground is the mill pond where the felled timber was kept wet so it would be fresh for processing. Source: Texas Transportation Archive

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Citation Info

Chris Grant, “Southern Pine Lumber Company,” East Texas History, accessed May 21, 2024, https://easttexashistory.org/items/show/108.

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